In spite of their humble appearance, these fruit roll-ups have wow factor. We had some friends over the other day, and when I brought these out, there were surprised utterances of “are these homemade?” They are probably the easiest things to make in the world, but look mysteriously difficult.
I have to warn you that these are very addictive…you can use any fruit combo (and add veggies too, if you so desire), but I tried strawberries, raspberries and mango. On top of bringing back fond memories of my own childhood (I used to eat the actual Fruit Roll-Ups brand by the dozens) and being delectable, these are actually healthy too. Guilt-free snacks are the way to go, especially when you’ve been inhaling chocolate-covered marshmallows with abandon like I have.
I was thinking of handing them out as Valentine’s treats — hence the little sparkly gem sticker — but they were eagerly gobbled up and it’s looking doubtful that I’ll have the time to make more before V-day.
There are about a million fruit roll-ups recipe online, but below are the ridiculously easy steps that I followed (plus some illustrations I whipped up) – most of the time is spent largely unattended, but there is a slight inconvenience in that you wouldn’t want to leave your oven on and go off to run errands, no matter how low the temperature. But if you happen to have plans to stick around your house for a few hours, these are effortless to make.
Also, my first batch got a little too crispy so it’s a good idea to check once an hour after the first couple of hours – it should feel tacky and firm, but not hard. The pix shown above are from my second batch, and they were the perfect consistency of chewy and a tiny bit stretchy.
yields approximately 10 1-inch x 8inch rolls
Ingredients: about three cups of chopped fruit . I used about 1 1/2 cups of strawberries, 1/2 cup of raspberries and 1 cup of mango pieces.
1. Wash and remove any stems/hulls/pits/seeds. I kept the raspberries whole, halved the strawberries and chopped the mango into roughly 2-inch pieces. Then I tossed them into the blender. Blend until completely pureed. You should end up with approximately two cups of puree.
2. Using a rubber spatula or spoon, spread fruit puree onto a baking sheet lined with Silpat. If you don’t have a Silpat, parchment paper would also work, but I’ve only tried it with the Silpat (which works like a charm).
3. Set your oven to the lowest temperature (mine was at about 150 degrees F) and let the puree dehydrate for 3 to 5 hours. Mine took 3 hours. Wouldn’t it be cute to have an aqua stove? Mine is boring white…
4. Once the mixture feels slightly tacky and firm to the touch, take out of the oven and let cool. If you are using a Silpat, the dehydrated fruit should peel off easily. Place on a sheet of parchment paper. If you used parchment paper, you can keep it as is. Using a pizza cutter, slice into strips and roll-up!
5. Now you can enjoy your tasty (and healthy!) treat!
sewing, watercolor? illustrations and now fruit roll ups. talk about a triple threat! i’ve been considering trying these forever but haven’t done it yet. thanks for the motivation!
The crafting triple threat! That’s so funny, I love it! I want a t-shirt made with that. 🙂 Since I can’t dance, sing or act I never thought the term would ever apply to me. Thanks for starting my day with a chuckle, Sarah!
thanks for the recipe! we love f-r-ups too! i make dehydrated fruit(apples, plumbs, cherries, and mushrooms too ;), but i have always been hesitant on making f-r-ups, because i was worried i might screw up the batch and all the wonderful fruit would come to waste. but now i will definitely try it :)!
Dehydrated mushrooms sound excellent, Katka – what a smart idea! Do you own a dehydrator? Definitely give the fruit roll-ups a try because they’re difficult to get wrong! Even with the crispy batch, they tasted great 🙂
here in the Czech Republic we eat(and pick :)) a lot of wild mushrooms, so dehydrated mushrooms are part of the typical czech cuisine :)!
we are so lucky to live in the mountains on the outskirts of a village with a forest right behind our house, so when it’s mushroom season we go mushroom-hunting with our boys almost every day(for 15min or even 2hrs!). it’s so much fun, just like a treasure hunt…that is, unless you don’t find any. also, one has to be carefull not to pick the poisonous ones!
i do have a dehrydator and it does make dehydrating mushrooms so much easier, as it does with any other vegetable or fruit 🙂
i just tried a batch of fruit roll-ups – apples+blueberries+blackberries(i had b and b in my freezer)…it was very yummy! i’m so glad i finally tried it – thanks again :)!
Yay, so glad the fruit roll-ups worked out! How wonderful that you have such easy access to mushroom gathering — what a fun way to spend family time! Dried mushrooms are used often in Japanese cuisine as well, and I love them. Hmmm, that gives me an idea for dinner tonight…
the illustrations alone make me want to try this recipe!!
yum, i must try these! and lucinda is right, the illustrations make them even more irresistible!
Thanks for the illustration props, Lucinda and Gail! These are so fun to do!